Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 10, 2024: Everyone who believes in him may have eternal life...

Everyone who believes in him may have eternal life…

Do we believe in the promise of salvation? 

    The last chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles contains an abbreviated history of the last four kings of Judah, a time during which the people turn toward the gods of other nations, adding infidelity to infidelity, violating their covenant with God. The Lord sends his messengers to them, for he has compassion on his people, but his dwelling place, the temple, is ultimately destroyed when the people are carried captive to Babylon. There, they pray Psalm 137, Let my tongue be silenced, if ever I forget you, fearing that they cannot sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land. Their memory of Jerusalem, Zion, is all they have while in exile. And yet the Lord is ultimately merciful, allowing Cyrus, King of Persia, to send the people home: Whoever belongs to any part of the Lord’s people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Saved by the Lord, the people of Israel embrace the opportunity to rebuild the temple and worship once again in Jerusalem. 

    This episode is not unique in Jewish history; time and again, the people of Israel were unfaithful to covenant, and yet the Lord was ultimately merciful, each and every time. When, in John's Gospel, the Pharisee Nicodemus visits Jesus in the night, Jesus reminds him of the story of Moses who lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert so that all who looked upon it might be saved, healed from the bites of the seraph serpents. Their salvation involved an act of faith; Jesus, too, must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life; those who look upon him in faith and believe will live the truth and come to the light. 

    God is rich in mercy, Paul tells the Ephesians: by grace you have been saved. Ultimately, God is defined by mercy, compassion, care, and by the great love he has for us – so much so that, even in our sin, God showers us with the immeasurable riches of his grace. Unlike Nicodemus, who visits Jesus in the dead of night, not wanting to be seen, we must come toward the light of Christ and allow his grace to fill us with faith. For God sent his Son that the world might be saved through him. We have but to believe. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
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